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General Moeldoko, who will ultimately decide how many ships to deploy to the Timor Sea, sent instead his chief of staff for general affairs, Boy Syahrial.

Mr Agus said Indonesia would offer Mr Morrison to "maximise our navy patrols in the south sea, because normally we don't have that many ships there, because there has been no threat from the south".

"But now we will intensify the sea patrols because these asylum seekers are trying to go south," he said.

The promise amounts to an increased militarisation of the Timor Sea under the Indonesian plan combined with Australia's military-style "Operation Sovereign Borders".

If accepted by Australia, the military response may mollify Indonesian concerns that Australia was about to threaten its territorial sovereignty by implementing Tony Abbott's long promised election policy of turning boats back to Indonesia.

Details of how many Indonesian navy ships would be sent to the area are yet to be finalised — a decision that would be under the control of General Moeldoko.

Neither Mr Morrison's office nor the embassy in Jakarta would give details of the meeting in advance, and the minister refused to answer questions from Fairfax Media both on the way in and on the way out. He did not say if he had raised the "turn back the boats" policy.

In an interview last week, the meeting's chairman, Mr Amir, said Australia should "pay more attention" to the countries of origin of asylum seekers in searching for a solution, and be kinder towards refugees.

"The Australian government should pay more empathy to the position of the Indonesian government, who is not comfortable with having so many asylum seekers here, but also to show empathy with asylum seekers who are seeking to have a better future."